1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to packaging methods and apparatus, and, in particular, to methods and apparatus for the packaging of food materials composed of elongated pieces, such as french fries.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Currently, bulk food materials composed of separate elongated pieces are placed in packages in a random order when packaged by machine and are placed in an aligned order only when packaged by hand. Such random packaging results in a considerable increase in bagging material per weight unit of the material packaged and also results in a requirement for considerably greater area resulting in inefficiency in shipping of the packaged material.
Hand alignment of the elongated food pieces is undesirable because of cost inefficiency and health considerations. Further, hand packaging for alignment of the pieces is simply impossible for foods such as pre-fried french fries which are extensively used in the fast food industry. Apparatus and methods for aligning such food material is currently unknown.